Book Review: America, Reality and Dream: The Freeman Letters from America and Sweden, 1841-1862 edited by Axel Friman, George M. Stephenson, and H. Arnold Barton

Book Review
A m e r i c a , R e a l i t y and D r e a m : The Freeman Letters f r o m A m e r i c a and Swe­den,
1841 -1862. Edited by Axel Friman, George M . Stephenson,
and H. Arnold Barton. Rock Island, Ill.: Augustana Historical Soci­ety,
1996. 108 pages.
In the summer of 1838, Carl Friman, a fifty-eight-year-old pen­sioned
military regiment employee left his home parish of Varnhem
in Västergötland to go to America. With him were the larger part of
his family, five sons ages six to seventeen. Staying behind were his
wife and eldest son with family. Their destination was the still virgin
territory of southern Racine County, Wisconsin, between Milwaukee
and Chicago. After a year, Carl returned to Sweden with nine-year-old
Herman, who again crossed the Atlantic a year later. Carl, how­ever,
was never again to return to America, his land of dreams, or see
his sons again. These developments explain the genesis and content
of this remarkable book.
When the separation between father and sons turned out to be
lasting, they began a correspondence that continued for twenty-two
years, beginning in 1840 and ending with Carl Friman's death in
1862. The letters are unusual for the time span they cover, as well as
for their comprehensiveness. They include the writings of both father
and sons. Some of them were published in the liberal Swedish news­paper
A f t o n b l a d e t as early as the 1840s and later translated and re­published
by George M . Stephenson in the 1930s. But the vast
majority were scattered among descendants and came to the atten­tion
of the late Lieutenant-Colonel Axel Friman of Gothenburg in
the 1960s and subsequently of Professor H . Arnold Barton, who
edited them for this book. The original letters are still in the family's
possession, and copies of transcripts were deposited at the Swenson
Center in Rock Island, Illinois, and in the L a n d s a r k i v in Gothenburg.
Arriving in New York on 9 July 1838 as the only passengers on a
cargo ship from Gothenburg carrying bar iron for export, the party
continued to Southport (later Kenosha) in eastern Wisconsin. They
were the first Swedes to settle in the area, preceding the nearby
settlement of Gustaf Unonius at Pine Lake, which later became a
center of early Swedish and Norwegian immigration.
After his return to Sweden and at the outset of the correspon­dence,
Carl Friman submitted several of his sons' letters, along with
his own commentary, to his local newspaper, Skara T i d n i n g . He wrote,
"When I left my beloved children in June, 1839, they had already
fenced with oak rails fifteen acres of pasture and ten acres for cultiva­tion.
Two and one half acres of corn, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, etc.
were planted with hoe and spade." The eighteen-year-old Carl Johan,
who later changed his name to John Freeman, had assumed responsi­bility
for the farm and for his younger brothers.
Most of the American letters were written by the two eldest sons,
one the hard-working farmer and the other the adventure-seeker
who joined the gold rush to California and attempted various ways of
seeking a livelihood. Indirectly, the letters also give glimpses of the
fates of the other brothers, including the wayward Herman, who
disappeared for long periods at a time and eventually participated in
the Mexican War. A l l the sons in time married American wives, and
two of them settled in Genoa City, Wisconsin. The book includes
family portraits and photo illustrations of the homes they built, some
of them still standing, as a testament to the rising standard of living of
these pioneers.
The letters give a vivid picture of early life on the frontier, and of
the gradual changes brought by the arrival of successive parties of
immigrants. The material hardships they faced initially are hard for us
to imagine. For instance, when the clothes they wore on arrival wore
out, new ones could not be bought, for lack of money and because
none were produced. So each one of the early letters from Wisconsin
pleads for clothes to be sent from Sweden, "because it costs three or
four dollars to have a coat made here." They go on to suggest that
clothes be sent "with a reliable Swede," or else to the Swedish Consul
in New York, for further shipping via Detroit. Father Carl's letters
from Sweden express a suppressed longing to rejoin his sons in America,
a wish that was never to be granted him for financial and familial
reasons. The correspondence became a substitute and a release for
this life-long separation, and the language reveals a strong emotional
bond between father and sons.
66
Of great interest are the comments on political issues of the
times. Father and sons were avid newspaper readers and were well
informed about world events. Continental Europe experienced revo­lutionary
uprisings against entrenched regimes, and in America the
slave question was a dominating theme in those years preceding the
C i v i l War. Professor Barton's knowledgeable introduction and de­tailed
notes provide a deeper understanding of the historical context
of the letters. A Swedish reader might have welcomed a bilingual
edition, with some of the letters appearing both in the original Swed­ish
version and in the English translation. Nevertheless, there is no
doubt that with this publication a service has been done to the many
descendants of the Freemans in both countries, and also to anyone
interested in the history of eastern Wisconsin and in early emigration
and immigration history in general.
The book is published by the Augustana Historical Society, hand­somely
designed and printed by the Pinney Printing Company in
Clinton, Iowa.
MARIANN TIBLIN
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
67

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Book Review
A m e r i c a , R e a l i t y and D r e a m : The Freeman Letters f r o m A m e r i c a and Swe­den,
1841 -1862. Edited by Axel Friman, George M . Stephenson,
and H. Arnold Barton. Rock Island, Ill.: Augustana Historical Soci­ety,
1996. 108 pages.
In the summer of 1838, Carl Friman, a fifty-eight-year-old pen­sioned
military regiment employee left his home parish of Varnhem
in Västergötland to go to America. With him were the larger part of
his family, five sons ages six to seventeen. Staying behind were his
wife and eldest son with family. Their destination was the still virgin
territory of southern Racine County, Wisconsin, between Milwaukee
and Chicago. After a year, Carl returned to Sweden with nine-year-old
Herman, who again crossed the Atlantic a year later. Carl, how­ever,
was never again to return to America, his land of dreams, or see
his sons again. These developments explain the genesis and content
of this remarkable book.
When the separation between father and sons turned out to be
lasting, they began a correspondence that continued for twenty-two
years, beginning in 1840 and ending with Carl Friman's death in
1862. The letters are unusual for the time span they cover, as well as
for their comprehensiveness. They include the writings of both father
and sons. Some of them were published in the liberal Swedish news­paper
A f t o n b l a d e t as early as the 1840s and later translated and re­published
by George M . Stephenson in the 1930s. But the vast
majority were scattered among descendants and came to the atten­tion
of the late Lieutenant-Colonel Axel Friman of Gothenburg in
the 1960s and subsequently of Professor H . Arnold Barton, who
edited them for this book. The original letters are still in the family's
possession, and copies of transcripts were deposited at the Swenson
Center in Rock Island, Illinois, and in the L a n d s a r k i v in Gothenburg.
Arriving in New York on 9 July 1838 as the only passengers on a
cargo ship from Gothenburg carrying bar iron for export, the party
continued to Southport (later Kenosha) in eastern Wisconsin. They
were the first Swedes to settle in the area, preceding the nearby
settlement of Gustaf Unonius at Pine Lake, which later became a
center of early Swedish and Norwegian immigration.
After his return to Sweden and at the outset of the correspon­dence,
Carl Friman submitted several of his sons' letters, along with
his own commentary, to his local newspaper, Skara T i d n i n g . He wrote,
"When I left my beloved children in June, 1839, they had already
fenced with oak rails fifteen acres of pasture and ten acres for cultiva­tion.
Two and one half acres of corn, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, etc.
were planted with hoe and spade." The eighteen-year-old Carl Johan,
who later changed his name to John Freeman, had assumed responsi­bility
for the farm and for his younger brothers.
Most of the American letters were written by the two eldest sons,
one the hard-working farmer and the other the adventure-seeker
who joined the gold rush to California and attempted various ways of
seeking a livelihood. Indirectly, the letters also give glimpses of the
fates of the other brothers, including the wayward Herman, who
disappeared for long periods at a time and eventually participated in
the Mexican War. A l l the sons in time married American wives, and
two of them settled in Genoa City, Wisconsin. The book includes
family portraits and photo illustrations of the homes they built, some
of them still standing, as a testament to the rising standard of living of
these pioneers.
The letters give a vivid picture of early life on the frontier, and of
the gradual changes brought by the arrival of successive parties of
immigrants. The material hardships they faced initially are hard for us
to imagine. For instance, when the clothes they wore on arrival wore
out, new ones could not be bought, for lack of money and because
none were produced. So each one of the early letters from Wisconsin
pleads for clothes to be sent from Sweden, "because it costs three or
four dollars to have a coat made here." They go on to suggest that
clothes be sent "with a reliable Swede," or else to the Swedish Consul
in New York, for further shipping via Detroit. Father Carl's letters
from Sweden express a suppressed longing to rejoin his sons in America,
a wish that was never to be granted him for financial and familial
reasons. The correspondence became a substitute and a release for
this life-long separation, and the language reveals a strong emotional
bond between father and sons.
66
Of great interest are the comments on political issues of the
times. Father and sons were avid newspaper readers and were well
informed about world events. Continental Europe experienced revo­lutionary
uprisings against entrenched regimes, and in America the
slave question was a dominating theme in those years preceding the
C i v i l War. Professor Barton's knowledgeable introduction and de­tailed
notes provide a deeper understanding of the historical context
of the letters. A Swedish reader might have welcomed a bilingual
edition, with some of the letters appearing both in the original Swed­ish
version and in the English translation. Nevertheless, there is no
doubt that with this publication a service has been done to the many
descendants of the Freemans in both countries, and also to anyone
interested in the history of eastern Wisconsin and in early emigration
and immigration history in general.
The book is published by the Augustana Historical Society, hand­somely
designed and printed by the Pinney Printing Company in
Clinton, Iowa.
MARIANN TIBLIN
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
67